Lights Out

Everyone is afraid of the dark.

The fear of darkness is such a universal, primal fear. Whether you sleep with a nightlight, with the door cracked, or if you wait until you're under the covers to flip your switch, I guarantee you have experienced discomfort at the absence of light before. It's pretty human.

Lights Out takes that weak spot and completely exploits it; it gives you something tangible to associate with the perceived threat of darkness.

The result is terrifying.

The basic premise (only watch the trailer if you want some great scares to be ruined) is a creature that can only hurt you when the lights are out. Though this sets you up to be scared the exact same way multiple times, it's executed so perfectly and the tension is built well in other ways. Nothing feels cheap or lazy about it.

Overall, you're going to get what you're expecting - a thrilling, jump-in-your-seat horror movie. There are some really cool things done with the "science" of the monster, and the movie does come up with creative shots and inventive usages of light to keep the creature at bay. 

It's a heart-poundingly fun time, and you might have trouble turning the light off that night. It's not without its faults, (which I'll explain in spoiler-territory) but if you like horror, you'll enjoy this movie for sure.

SPOILERS AHEAD

One of my favorite scenes of the movie is when Bret, the protagonist's boyfriend, is in an intense chase with the monster, "Diana". He manages to make it out to his car when Diana grabs him before he can get in. In the most clutch, badass move I've ever seen in a horror movie, Bret uses the keys in his hand to turn on the car's lights, which make Diana disappear. 

This was such a great moment, and the theater clapped and cheered. I wish the movie could have found more of these moments - especially given the ending.

Another cool moment in the movie was when Rebecca, our hero, gets Diana's arm stuck in a door and proceeds to shine the light directly on Diana's arm. When she does, it begins to disintegrate before Diana struggles and escapes. I thought this was a big deal. "Maybe they can defeat her this way," I thought to myself.

The whole movie, the mom is extremely creepy and talking to Diana, who seems to be her friend. The movie spells it out for you that the mom struggles with depression, and has since she was a kid. In this way, Diana becomes somewhat of a metaphor for depression. This is why I have problems with the ending of the movie.

In the climax of the movie, at the "all hope is lost" moment, Rebecca is about to be destroyed by Diana when Mom comes downstairs with a gun. "I told you not to hurt my children." Mom says.

Mom tries to shoot Diana, which of course doesn't work. I suddenly got really excited. Surely there was gonna be a really big, cool climax where light is used in a creative way to get rid of Diana for good and this completely shattered family can begin to come together again.

Nope.

The mom says she knows how to fix it and shoots herself in the head.

Donezo.

I felt pretty cheated by this ending. They had explained that Diana was attached to the mom's mind, so it's not like it didn't make sense. It just felt lazy, unfulfilling, and anticlimactic. When you establish a metaphor for depression, I don't think it's smart to make the solution to that depression SHOOTING YOURSELF IN THE HEAD. 

Maybe I'm just a stickler for happy endings, but especially after the cool car keys stunt and the flashlight flesh-burn, I was thinking that there was gonna be a really really innovative light show at the end to finish Diana for good. I don't know. The suicide rattled me. 

But seriously, other than the ending, this movie was loads of fun for me. It's still worth checking out.